


Draconica

by bette (ferns)



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Dragons, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-14 10:25:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9176893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ferns/pseuds/bette
Summary: Prompts for the superlotdragonweek2017. Collecting them here for easy reading! Every chapter has a different theme, and all are titled accordingly.





	1. Day 1: First Meeting

Martin Stein never planned on getting a dragon until Ronald came along. Their bond had been completely accidental-there was an explosion at the hatchery, and Stein was forced to bond with the nearest fire dragon in order to survive the flames.

Ronald had been a rather stubborn partner, but he was the best dragon that Stein could’ve ever wanted. He was huge, dark black all over like a coal with rivulets of orange and red running through his scales. He’d had a massive pair of curling rams horns, good for smashing into things. Two pairs of large wings and a heavy crocodilian tail that often lit with flames had signified his status as a firedrake. The row of spines that ran down the length of his spine had had a perfect spot for Stein to sit in a fireproof saddle.

Ronald had been everything to Stein, no matter how reluctant he had been to bond with him in the first place. Clarissa had met her own bonded dragon through Ronald, an icedrake named Caitlin who was Ronald’s mate despite how unlikely it was that a firedrake and an icedrake would ever even get along for extended periods of time, much less become each other’s mate.

And then the accident had happened.

Nobody could’ve seen it coming, they’d assured Stein later. Harrison Wells and his rogue dragon, Eobard, had been terrorizing Central City for months, but they’d never actually killed a dragon before. Riders, civilians, and creatures, yes-but never a dragon. And then in one fell swoop they killed dozens by opening a portal in the sky, using a young rider named Eddie’s life force to create the blood seal.

Ronald and Stein had been a part of a hastily thrown-together squadron to stop the portal, along with Cisco Ramon and his dragon, Vibe, Barry Allen and his dragon, Flash, and Jesse Wells and her dragon, Liberty.

Ronald had been the only dragon to die.

It had almost killed Stein to be separated from him. Their bond had been strong, stronger than most, and it would have made any rider sick to be separated from their dragon in such a painful and horrific manner. Stein hadn’t even seen him die, but he had felt it-felt the bond be severed, felt Ronnie screaming in pain as he was torn out from underneath Stein’s saddle, wings burning one final time as he fell to the earth.

Stein had almost died too-he’d almost plunged to his death, mind numb and his body burning with pain, until Barry steered Flash down to catch him before he fell. He’d spent over a month in the hospital, trying to recover with Clarissa by his side-Caitlin was grieving too, in too much pain from the loss of her mate to comfort him. Stein respected that.

It wasn’t much of an option to bond with another dragon afterwards. Younger riders did if they lost their dragons to some sort of disease or to some sort of border skirmish. But Stein had been with Ronald for quite some time, and he hadn’t exactly been young when they had first bonded. Stein considered himself far too old to bond with another dragon. Even if it did extend the lifespans of both participants, and by this point Clarissa would outlive him for quite some time.

(The oldest dragon-rider pair in Central City was Rip Hunter and Waverider, who had been around for years and would be around for even longer. And there were rumors of a pair of ancient dragons up in the mountains who had never bonded to anybody. But it was largely considered a folk tale that the oldest rider in the world had done some sort of black magic ritual to stay just as alive and youthful as he would’ve been while bonded to a dragon.)

So no, after the accident with Ronald, Stein decided to never bond with another dragon. He’d live out the rest of his life unbonded.

Or at least that was what the plan was supposed to be, until Jefferson-no, Jax-came along.

Caitlin had alerted him to the fact that there had been an accident on the border of Keystone and National City. Eggs had been liberated from the back of a smugglers truck-five icedrake eggs, a single firedrake egg that was in sickly condition from being too close to the icedrake eggs, an adult wyvern in terrible shape with injuries and a muzzle, a small dragon that had been forcibly bonded to one of the drivers of the truck that had begged to be put down on the spot, as well as several different creatures that were obviously sick.

Since Stein, Clarissa, and Caitlin were so close to the scene and Stein knew that they would be receiving the eggs soon at the hatchery Clarissa volunteered at anyways, he couldn’t see a reason to stop his wife and her dragon from investigating.

Joe recognized them and let them pass-Clarissa was more than a little bit experienced with handling eggs, something he knew full well. Barry grinned at them and waved, gesturing for them to come over. “Were you guys in the area too?” When they nodded, he smiled wider. “I’m not usually at these kinds of crimes, but I called Singh before going past the tape and he said it was fine, so…”

There was a low snarl from the injured wyvern as an officer tried to move it away from the crowd of people gathered around. Barry darted over as it snapped its teeth at the officer, shielding him with his own body as Flash curled around the stranger protectively.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Barry said soothingly, lifting his hands up to stop the wyvern from snapping again. There were marks around its mouth where the muzzle had been. “Easy, buddy, easy. Calm down. You’re free now, but you’re hurt badly.”

The wyvern lashed its tail, black wings flicking open to their full extent and momentarily blocking Barry from view. “The egg is hurt,” it hissed in English, which made Barry a little relieved. He didn’t know any other languages, so if the wyvern had spoken, say, Spanish or Mandarin, he would’ve been out of luck. “The fire egg is hurt.”

Stein and Clarissa exchanged glances. Caitlin made an anxious churring noise. She couldn’t get close to the egg-it was highly dangerous for an icedrake like her to get close to firedrake eggs. And since the egg was already sick, none of them knew if Clarissa would be able to help it.

But Stein knew he could.

Shrugging off his coat to wrap the egg up, Stein knelt down by it. The egg, which should have been soft orange and hot to the touch, was dull and felt dull and lukewarm against his hand. He eased it into his jacket, wrapping it up tightly and holding it close to his chest. “I’m taking this back to Star Hatchery,” he informed Barry. “It should still be alive by the time I get there.”

With a single flap of its wings, the wyvern landed in front of him, bowing down and bracing its wings on the ground so it wouldn’t overbalance. It turned its dark yellow eyes on him. “I will take you.”

Stein swallowed. “I’m not sure if that is the wisest course of action, Mx…?”

“Hartley,” the wyvern growled, “and that egg is going to die if you don’t let me take you.”

Stein looked at Clarissa, who nodded. Caitlin kneaded the ground anxiously with her claws. She would’ve loved to take them herself, but… The health of the egg was far more important. Taking a deep breath, Stein clambered onto the wyvern’s back, bracing himself for discomfort. He knew riding a wyvern was going to be different than riding a quadrupedal dragon like Ronald had been, and it had been a long time since he had ridden bareback, but-

Cursing in Yiddish, Stein wrapped one arm around the wyvern’s neck as it took to the sky, clutching the egg against his chest.

* * *

 

Halfway to Star Hatchery, Stein heard an all-too-familiar sound, and his heart dropped into his stomach (even more than it already was from the awkward sliding and rocking that he was doing on Hartley’s neck and back). “Put me down, now.”

“We’re not there yet!” Hartley hissed, banking left sharply.

Stein bit back a curse. “I don’t care. The egg is _hatching.”_

Hartley snarled. “Hold on.”

Almost too late, Stein tightened his grip, squeezing his eyes shut as Hartley folded his wings and _dove_. He could feel the egg thrumming against his chest and prayed that the already-sick dragon wouldn’t be dead by the time it hatched.

Hartley landed with a thump that made Stein swear, stumbling from the wyvern’s back and collapsing against a tree as he shakily unwrapped the egg from his jacket. It was definitely hatching. Stein looked up at Hartley, who had craned his neck to look down at the egg. “Keep going to Star. I’ll try to keep the egg alive until you get back.”

Hartley seemed to realize that arguing was pointless, and that flying ahead was the best chance they had at saving the poor hatchling. With a small awkward waddling running start, he took to the skies again, injuries making him hiss in pain as he kept flying.

Stein looked down at the egg in his lap, which was starting to cheep-the baby dragon trying to let its mother know that it was going to be coming out into the world.

After about an hour of cheeping and shaking with small cracks and chips coming out of the egg, with Hartley still not back, Stein realized that the egg was going to hatch. Something inside of him told him that right now, right here, the egg was going to hatch, and that meant-

He jumped to his feet and hid behind a tree, wincing at the wave of heat that still rolled over him. Firedrake eggs had a rather unpleasant tendency to explode when they hatched.

Peering out from behind the tree, Stein couldn’t stop himself from gaping.

The tiny hatchling in the middle of the explosion range was mewling pitifully, a deep red color all over except for its black horns and spines and the yellow plates on its chest and underbelly. It had a thick stubby tail and four wings, just like Ronald had once had. It blinked open its eyes, and as Stein watched they narrowed as it tried to focus on him before scrambling toward him while making small squeaking sounds.

As he automatically fell to his knees to take the dragon in his arms (his clothes were fireproof, which was good, since the baby dragon was leaving smouldering patches in its wake), Stein somehow sensed how tired and sick the poor thing was. It wouldn’t last the night even with Star’s help-and he could hear distant wingbeats now, heavy and fast as they moved toward him from the distant direction of the hatchery.

Which meant that if he wanted to keep this hatchling alive, they would have to bond.

Sighing deeply, Stein opened his mind and sought out the hatchlings. To his surprise, the baby dragon immediately latched onto his consciousness, sending peals of happiness down the link and into Stein’s brain. He’d forgotten what that felt like.

And then the link-and the dragon-lit with flames, and Stein welcomed the bond once more.


	2. Days Two and Three: Holiday/Flight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is belated, but I squished the prompts together to make it easier.

“Happy hatchday!” Wally purred, nuzzling Jesse’s ear. She ducked away from him with a small squeak of indignation as he accidentally (or not-so-accidentally) sent a small static shock into her. Jesse tried to shove him away with a push of her wings, making him purr in amusement and duck away, tail curling up. “Now you’re finally old enough that Harry can’t say no when you tell him you want to go out flying on your own.”

Jesse huffed. “I’ve been going out without his permission for years and you know it, Wally.” She looked around. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Armory.” Wally’s eyes gleamed. “They’ve got a present for you there.”

Jesse stiffened, eyes widening as she took in the cocky grin on Wally’s face and the way that his chest was puffed up. “You mean they-”

“Yup.” Wally flicked his tail happily. “And you didn’t hear it from me-but there’s someone in town who’s looking for a dragon. A rider.”

She pounced on him, rolling him under her and pinning him down to the ground. His wings thumped uselessly against her, gentle enough not to hurt but hard enough to almost buffet her off. They were both members of the same species-multiple wings and stripe-like markings set them apart from the rest of their flight, along with Barry, Jay, Jesse’s father Harry (although his second pair of wings was more like fins than anything), and Eliza.

Jesse’s long tail flicked back and forth against the grass as she bent down to press her muzzle to Wally’s nose. “And how is your rider?”

Wally churred in amusement. “He’s fine. Waiting for us back at the armory. C’mon, let’s go.” He launched Jesse off with a powerful (and carefully controlled) kick of his hind legs, rising to his feet and launching himself into the air with a ripple of wings. Jesse followed, the two of them spiralling higher and higher into the sky. “Race you!”

The two of them took off, swooping and diving around each other as each one struggled to stay in the lead. Wally held it up until the last minute, when he sharply angled his wings upward and let Jesse fall in ahead of him. She landed with a thump and turned on him. “That’s cheating! You went easy on me!”

“It’s your hatchday.” Wally puffed up his chest. “Besides, we already know that I’m always going to be faster than you. ‘S why _I’m_ a racer and you’re not.”

Jesse mock growled. “Why you-”

_“Ahem.”_

Jesse squeaked a little and looked at her dad, wings drooping a little like a hatchling that had just been caught sneaking out for the first time. Harry flicked his charcoal grey tail, the arrowhead tip shining like it had been polished. It probably had been-his rider, Tess, was famously attentive. At least compared to Harry himself, who wouldn’t notice if he was covered in mud from horns to tail.

“Sorry, dad,” Jesse huffed, before brightening a little. “Wally said there was a rider looking for a dragon.”

“There is,” Harry huffed. “Not my first choice, but-”

“It doesn’t matter whose choice it is,” Jay said mildly, tail wrapped around his paws. Joan, his rider and his lifelong companion, stroked his wings and nodded in agreement.

“It’s a bond. Who knows if it’ll actually take or not.” She winked at Jesse. “But I have a feeling it’s going to. None of us were expecting Wally’s rider, were we?” Wally bristled a little and Joan laughed. “Don’t worry, I still love her almost as much as you do.”

Jesse bounced a little, looking up at the tall walls of the armoury. “Where’s the rest of the flight?”

“Inside. I think Cisco’s getting you your present. And Barry and Iris are off bringing in your potential rider.” Jay’s ears twitched a little. “Cisco worked on it all week. Barry had to practically force him to sleep.”

Jesse bounced on the pads of her paws. She knew what it was, or at least the basics of it-every dragon in their flight got armor on their 20th hatchday. It had been made by a certain family for generations, at least until the massacre that had happened only a few years before Jesse was born. Now Cisco had stepped up to take on the duty, and he was damn good at it, too.

As if he knew she had been thinking about him, Cisco bounced out of the armory, tail curled happily and chest puffed out. He purred when he saw Jesse. “C’mon. I wanna show you your gift.”

She shivered in anticipation and followed him. Harry followed immediately behind her, ever protective of his only hatchling. Wally followed after him, making annoyed grumbling sounds at Harry’s dour attitude until the older dragon’s bladed tail whacked him lightly across the nose. Not enough to actually hurt, but enough to let him know that he would have to be quieter about his complaints in the future.

Cisco flared his wings as they reached the center of the armory where he worked. The bioluminescent stripes on the bottoms of his wings lit up brightly, sending ghostly shadows onto the walls as his partners, a human named Curtis and a human named Jax, helped him tug a large (clearly enchanted) set of armor down off of the table and onto the floor. Curtis beamed at her, and Jesse smiled back. She’d always liked how Cisco treated humans who weren’t riders. With respect.

“We practically made this from scratch,” Jax explained. There were bags under his eyes, but there was also a huge smile on his face and the tips of his fingers were smoking. “It’s cloth and magic, there’s nothing metal about it-it’s just like Barry’s armor, only there’s another enchantment woven into it that makes it a little more fireproof.”

It was yellow and red, although mostly red, and as Jesse nosed it she could feel the sparks of magic still settling into the seams. She looked up at Cisco from her place on the floor (and when had she decided to lie down?) with wide delighted eyes. “How do I put it on?”

As Cisco helped her, Jesse couldn’t stop herself from bouncing in place with excitement. Jax rapped her muzzle with his knuckles. “Stay still, or it’s going to fall off. Do you have any idea how many times Ronnie has had to come in needing repairs for his armor because he couldn’t stay still while putting it on?”

Jesse reluctantly stopped bouncing, so excited she could hardly breathe as Cisco muttered a spell and flicked his tail, settling the last pieces of the armor in place. He moved back, eyeing the armor appreciatively but still critically. “It might need a few adjustments.” He pushed the lever that was used to open the roof of the armory, making the doors on the roof whir and hum as they shifted open. “Well, why don’t you test it out?”

Jesse swallowed. The first flight with your armor was ceremonial, it was an experience-old legends said that the armor was a living thing. Even if Jesse knew better than to listen to fairy stories like that… It still sent shivers up her wings. She crouched down, bracing her tail against the floor as she tensed her wings. Wally moved as if he was going to take flight with her, until Jax set a foot down on his friend’s wing. “Don’t. I know Iris flew with you, but that was different.”

“How was it different?” Wally asked, blinking down at Jax.

Jax grinned. “Nobody can tell Iris what not to do. And besides-that was when there were still skirmishes on the border. She’ll be fine-”

He was cut off by a whoosh of air as Jesse launched herself into the air, whooping in delight as the magic added extra power to her wings. Jax smiled even wider at the jealous expression on Wally’s face. “Don’t worry, you’re still faster. It’s just a little charm to keep flight steadier and more sustained-I’m adding it to your armor as soon as we get the chance.”

Jesse spiraled above the clouds, gulping in the thin air and laughing as she did a barrel roll, wings snapping out as she drifted to a standstill. But only for a moment before she was plunging back to earth, shrieking with joy at the feeling of wind under her wings and tousling through her mane. Jesse’s bladed tail snapped downwards along with her wings as she climbed back up again through the air, wings finding an updraft that she rested on for a moment.

The armor seemed to hum, vibrating along with Jesse as she took deep breaths. This was exhilarating. She could easily see why Barry and Jay rarely took their armor off. It was an incredible feeling.

Cocking her head, Jesse could see the distant red figure that must’ve been Barry (who else could it have been?) flying toward the armory. With her sharp eyes, Jesse could see a small figure clinging to his back. Behind him, Iris’s deep purple scales flashed in the sunlight. Which meant that the person on Barry’s back must’ve been her potential future rider.

Taking a deep breath, Jesse tilted her wings, flying in their direction.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr at autisticspeedster.tumblr.com


End file.
